In agricultural applications, farmers have typically used row crop planters with a single or double disk opener for opening a trench, roughly of a parabolic cross-section, in which seed is deposited. Traditionally, over many decades, a Vee-type closing wheel has been used in conventional tillage equipment for closing the trench. While most farmers still use conventional tillage equipment, various minimum-tillage systems and no-till systems have gained popularity over the past 20 years.
Based on the different tillage systems, and to achieve optimum results, the agricultural industry has recognized a need for using different closing wheel designs for various soil conditions. For example, a smooth semi-pneumatic rubber wheel has been used virtually since the onset of corn farming to the present day. With the advent of no-till farming, numerous other types of closing wheels have been marketed to address specific needs of planted seeds (e.g., corn seed), as well as non-optimal soil conditions.
One popular type of closing wheel is a toothed closed wheel, which has become a dominant type of closing wheel in both no-till and conventional farming. However, currently available toothed wheels present problems because each type of wheel is directed to limited planting applications and/or fails to function efficiently in different types of soil conditions. For example, certain toothed wheel designs tend to be optimized for a limited range of conditions and seed depths, lacking the capability for planting different types of crops. In another example, present toothed wheel designs accumulate mud buildup between teeth and, as such, rendering the toothed wheels inefficient or incapable of farming in muddy, wet soil conditions.